Forests of Australia

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Australia has many forests of importance due to significant features, despite being one of the driest continents.

There are 457 forest communities distributed across Australia. These have been grouped into the following seven native forest types which are characterised by dominant species and the structure of the forest^[1]:

• Rainforests
• Melaleuca forests
• Eucalypt forests
• Casuarina forests
• Callitris forests
• Acacia forests
• Mangrove forests

Plantation forests (softwood and some hardwood) have been defined as an eighth group which covers trees planted for commercial use.

The majority of Australia's trees are hardwoods, typically eucalypts, rather than softwoods like pine. While softwoods dominate some native forests, their total area is judged insufficient to constitute a major forest type in Australia's National Forest Inventory.

Contents 1 List of significant forests 2 Photo gallery 3 See also 4 References

[edit] List of significant forests

Forest	Notable features
Alpine National Park	Extensive Mountain Ash and Snowgum forests
Brisbane Forest Park	Large nature reserve on the western boundary of the City of Brisbane, bordering on the Mount Coot-tha Reserve which supports a large variety of native plants and animals.
Daintree Rainforest	Tropical rainforest near Daintree, Queensland. At around 1200 square kilometers the Daintree is Australia's largest contiguous area of rainforest. Contains 30% of frog, marsupial and reptile species in Australia, and 65% of Australia's bat and butterfly species. 20% of bird species in the country can be found in this area including the threatened Cassowary. Added to the World Heritage List in 1988.
Disappointment Reference Area	Eucalyptus forests with dense treeferns along many creeks.
Errindundra forests	The Errinundra National Park in East Gippland contains the largest remaining cool temperate rainforests in Victoria. These Old Growth Forests harbour many rare and threatened species of flora and fauna, including powerful owls, tiger quolls and long-footed potoroos.
Gloucester National Park	Karri Eucalyptus forests that includes the Gloucester Tree, Western Australia's most famous karri tree.
Gondwana Rainforests of Australia	Remnants of Gondwanaland forests
Goolengook	Old growth cool temperate rainforest in Eastern Victoria.
Great Otway National Park	Diverse range of landscapes and vegetation types including some old growth Eucalyptus forest
Karawatha Forest	Protected bushland at Karawatha, Queensland
Kinglake National Park	While much of the forest area was logged in the early part of the 20th century, many old growth trees remain.
Lake Mountain	Old growth Mountain Ash and Snowgum forests, including habitat for the threatened Leadbeater's Possum.
Lamington National Park	Part Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves of the World Heritage site on the Queensland/New South Wales border. One of the largest upland subtropical rainforest remnants in the world and the most northern southern beech cool temperate rainforest in Australia.
Limpinwood Nature Reserve	World Heritage listed wilderness region of 26 km² situated in the Border ranges of north eastern New South Wales. Vegetation is primarily sub-tropical rain forest with some wet sclerophyll forest.
Mount Buffalo National Park	Over 550 native species occur; the most significant vegetation communities are the alpine and sub-alpine communities. The lower slopes have communities of mixed gum and peppermint, including the Bogong Gum, Eucalyptus chapmaniana. These grade into pure stands of Alpine Ash, Eucalyptus delegatensis around 1100 metres elevation, and subalpine woodland of Snow Gum, Eucalyptus pauciflora above 1300 metres. Numerous endemic plant species.
Mount Warning National Park	Included in the UNESCO World Heritage Listings in 1986. Extensive subtropical rainforest remnants.
Mount Read (Tasmania)	Despite extensive historic mining and human activity on its slopes, Mount Read has unique and significant stands of rare Huon Pine forests on its slopes.
Sherbrooke Forest	Wet sclerophyll forest with the dominant tree species being the Mountain Ash, Eucalyptus regnans, the tallest flowering plant in the world. The forest has recovered well from logging which occurred from the mid 19th century until 1930. Sherbrooke Forest is famous for its population of Superb Lyrebirds.
Springbrook National Park	Part of the World Heritage site Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves. Rainforest and eucalypt forest.
Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest	The main canopy trees are Turpentine (Syncarpia glomulifera, Grey Ironbark (Eucalyptus paniculata), Narrow-leaved Ironbark (Eucalyptus crebra) and Red Ironbark. Very few remnants of Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest remain.
Tarkine	Extensive stands of Eucalypt forest and cool temperate rainforest which includes ancient Myrtle Beech trees.
Tarra-Bulga National Park	Remnant cool temperate rainforest in the Stzelecki Ranges. The deeply-incised river valleys of the park are dominated by wet sclerophyll tall open forest of mountain ash (Eucalyptus regnans), with an understorey of blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon), hazel pomaderris (Pomaderris aspera) and tree ferns (Dicksonia antarctica and Cyathea australis). Pockets of the park feature cool temperate rainforest, including Myrtle Beech Nothofagus cunninghamii.
Tuart Forest National Park	Contains rare old growth Tuart (Eucalyptus gomphocephala) forest.
Walpole-Nornalup National Park	Contains rare old growth giant Tingle eucalypt forest known as 'The Valley of the Giants'.
Wielangta forest	Part of remnant glacial refugia forest and contains blue gum eucalypt forest and pockets of cool temperate rainforest. The forest is a key habitat of rare and threatened species, including the Tasmanian Wedge-tailed Eagle, Swift Parrot, Broad-toothed Stag Beetle, Spotted-tail Quoll and Eastern Barred Bandicoot and the endemic Wielangta Beetle. A rare orchid (Genoplesium nudum) has also been discovered in the forest.
Wollemi National Park	Contains the only known wild specimens of the Wollemi Pine (Wollemia nobilis), a species thought to have become extinct approximately thirty million years ago, but discovered alive in three small stands in 1994..

[edit] Photo gallery

Child standing under 92 metre Eucalyptus regnans tree in Tasmania's Styx Valley	Daintree rainforest	Karri forest near Cascades at Pemberton, Western Australia	Hopetoun Falls, Beech Forest, near Great Otway National Park, Victoria.
Forest in Tarra-Bulga National Park	The Gloucester Tree, a giant karri tree in the Gloucester National Park

[edit] See also

• Fauna of Australia
• Flora of Australia

[edit] References